Prolonged computer use, especially if fatigue ensues, is associated with visual and musculoskeletal symptoms. The aim was to determine the time-course of perceived fatigue in the wrist, forearm, shoulder and eyes during a 60-min mouse task (painting rectangles), and whether object size and/or mouse use demands were of influence. Also, we investigated performance (number of rectangles painted), and whether perceived fatigue was paralleled by local muscle fatigue or tissue oxygenation. Ten women performed the task for three conditions (crossover design). At condition 1, rectangles were 45 × 25 mm, square paint cursor size 1.3 × 1.3 mm, and mousepointer movement ratio 1:26. At condition 2, the same cursor size and mousepointer movement ratio was used, but rectangles were smaller. At condition 3, the smaller rectangles were used, but the cursor size was also smaller and mousepointer movement ratio was 1:8. The results showed increased self-reported fatigue over time, with the observed increase greater for the eyes, but no change in physiological responses. Condition 2 resulted in higher performance and increased eye fatigue. Perceived fatigue in the muscles or physiological responses did not differ between conditions. In conclusion, computer work tasks imposing high visual and motor demands, and with high performance, seemed to have an influence on eye fatigue.

The globalization has converted the world into a small global village; a village in which there is an ever high stream of contentions and competitions between organizations. In this scenario the most effective and beneficial maneuver for any organization is to create innovative ways in conducting business. This thesis deals with the role of leadership in the phenomena of organizational change and innovation. The leader as a person in charge or as a change agent can manage an organization or the process of organizational change more effectively and successfully if h/she is capable and competent. Rapid technological advancements, high expectations of customers, and ever changing market situations have compelled organizations to incessantly reassess and reevaluate how they work and to understand, adopt and implement changes in their business model in response of changing trends. Organizational change is a demand of the day, and needed for organizations to survive. Organizations now a days, well understand the importance of the matter, and are serious to prepare themselves not only the current, but also for the future trends to get the level of sustainable success, but Along with all of its implications and importance the process of organizational change is also a very complex and challenging. Research shows that 70 percent of organizational changes fail to get their goals. As leadership has a central role in evolution and cultivating an organization, the process of organizational change demands a very effective and highly competent leadership that is well capable to perceive the most desirable shape of an organization and address the issue of organizational change in most appropriate way. The analysis of literature reviewed and the results of real life cases of organizations which are studied for this thesis shows, that a leadership with the competencies of “Vision” and “Innovative Approach” along with other characteristics can prove more effective to conclude the complex phenomena of organizational change with success. Further the successful organizational change can leads to innovation for organization, which is the key of long term success and sustainability. This thesis as a result proposed a model which is derived from the leadership competencies, organizational change, and sustainable success and innovation literature. This model expresses relationship between successful organizational change and leadership on the basis of h/her characteristics, which are ‘Vision” and “Innovative Approach”. With the help of proposed model this relationship can be viewed graphically.

This study aimed at evaluating and demonstrating the feasibility of using Concentrated Solar Thermal technology combined with biomass energy technology as a hybrid renewable energy system to supply the process heat requirements in small scale industries in Sri Lanka. Particularly, the focus was to apply the concept to the expanding hotel industry, for covering the thermal energy demand of a medium scale hotel.

Solar modules utilize the rooftop area of the building to a valuable application. Linear Fresnel type of solar concentrator is selected considering the requirement of the application and the simplicity of fabrication and installation compared to other technologies. Subsequently, a wood-fired boiler is deployed as the steam generator as well as the balancing power source to recover the effects due to the seasonal variations in solar energy. Bioenergy, so far being the largest primary energy supply in the country, has a good potential for further growth in industrial applications like small hotels.

When a hotel with about 200-guests capacity and annual average occupancy of 65% is considered, the total annual CO2 saving is accounted as 207 tons compared with an entirely fossil fuel (diesel) fired boiler system. The annual operational cost saving is around $ 40,000 and the simple payback period is within 3-4 years. The proposed hybrid system can generate additional 26 employment opportunities in the proximity of the site location area.

This solar-biomass hybrid concept mitigates the weaknesses associated with these renewable technologies when employed separately. The system has been designed in such a way that the total heat demand of hot water and process steam supply is managed by renewable energy alone. It is thus a self-sustainable, non-conventional, renewable energy system. This concept can be stretched to other critical medium temperature applications like for example absorption refrigeration. The system is applicable to many other industries in the country where space requirement is available, solar irradiance is rich and a solid biomass supply is assured.

This thesis addresses the topic of global supply chain design. One major challenge concerns how to manage the tension between separation and integration pertaining to the localization of business activities. In this regard Ferdows (2008) worked to create two new production network models (rooted production network and footloose production network). Earlier studies have highlighted the choices that are involved in the network of facilities but lack in providing a comprehensive picture in terms of both configurational and coordination factors that govern the design of global supply chain. There is a need for a conceptual model where factors affecting the design process of a global supply chain can be applied. Two main research questions have been addressed in this study. First, exploring and identifying the factors affecting global supply chain design. Second,investigating the factors that influence the position on the spectrum of rooted and footloose supply chain design.

A literature review analysis and multi-case studies have been performed for this study in order to explore the factors. The companies were selected in order to reflect upon the two types of network, i.e., rooted and footloose. The primary data were selected through interviews with the managers.

This study highlighted that there are many factors that affect configurational and coordination decision areas within a global supply chain. This study categorized the factors and the configurational/coordination decision areas with two main competitive priorities, i.e., cost and differentiation in the form of a “conceptual model.” The study also highlighted the factors in a matrix, which showed their position on the spectrum of rooted and footloose network configurations. For instance, the coordination factors that drive towards a footloose network include: high orchestration capabilities, need access to new technology and knowledge, proximity to suppliers, etc. The configurational factors that drive towards a rooted network include: economic stability, proximity to market, concerns for sustainability issues, high transportation cost, need for high proximity between key functions, need for intellectual property rights protection,etc.

In certain situations, global companies strive to take advantage of short-term changes in economic and exchange rates on the never-ending journey of competitiveness. This paper seeks to extend Ferdows’s (2008) production network models by adding the factors affecting shifts between rooted and footloose network configurations. Two companies were selected in order to illustrate the models and reveal other possible factors. The identified factors are differentiated in terms of configuration and coordination and merged in a matrix. The trends and implications on global supply chains are also discussed.

Due to the limited existing knowledge pertaining to the factors which govern localization of operations and capabilities in a global supply chain, the purpose of the paper is to find out which factors and how they jointly affect the design of global supply chains. The relevant literature is reviewed and a concept matrix is developed. Five companies were selected in order to illustrate the issues of global supply chain design. Among them, three companies are considered to have efficient supply chain and less complex products, while the two others are considered to have responsive supply chain and more complex products. The issues discussed with the selected companies cover global sourcing, challenges, technological advancement and issues related to management control. The study identifies about fifty factors that affect global supply chain design, and specifically how theses relate to design decisions on location of factories and production, supplier selection and development, distribution of products and organisation of interfaces along the supply chain. The discrepancies between theory and practice as well as the implications for further research are discussed.

The knowledge pertaining to the factors, which govern localization of operations and capabilities in a global supply chain, is limited. The purpose of the paper is to find out which factors and how they jointly affect the design of a global supply chain. The relevant literature is reviewed and a concept matrix is developed. The study identifies 30 factors that affect a global supply chain design and specifically how theses relate to the design decisions on location of factories and production, supplier selection and development, distribution logistics, organisation of interfaces/enterprise information infrastructure along the supply chain and human resource development. The decision model is developed and the description of the model is done with the help of an example (location of a factory) by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) (Saaty, 1990).

Purpose - The goal of this research is to demonstrate that financial performance of current year is dependent to the amount of maturity of the supply chain processes. This aim is achieved through considering current supply chain process maturities of the firm together with financial performance of prior years.

Research question - How supply chain process maturities in relation to financial performance of prior years are related to current financial performance

Methodology - The deductive approach has been followed to use theories and literatures to build the hypothetical model in order to test it empirically.

This quantitative research is benefited from the primary data of Swedish steel SMEs including the secondary data from financial ratios from Scandinavian financial database

Findings - The effect between supply chain process maturity and current year financial performance, the effect between prior year financial performance and current year financial performance, and also total effect of prior year financial performance and supply chain process maturity on current year financial performance proved empirically.

Saving energy and optimizing industrial processes are major priorities for companies around the world. In this study the cooling process (with air) of large rollers are examined. The result of these examinations are used to create a computational fluid dynamic model. These examination consists of geometry, volume flows, velocities, velocity profiles, temperature and pressure. A complication in the measurements occurred due to the nonsymmetrical installation of the nozzles in the cooling setup. The results highlights how this nonsymmetrical installation affects the cooling. Multiple methods were used to carry out this work, and some additional side project were implemented. The results in this thesis is not enough to create a CFD model and further work have to be carried out in the future.

The energy usage in residential sector have been around 22% of the total energy use in the world and increasing due to the population growth and higher living standards. The energy sources for this are made up primarily of non-renewable energy resources which generates a large amount of global greenhouse gases. A lot of countries have implemented various regulations and rules to reduce the energy usage in buildings and promoting the use of renewable energy technologies. This paper presents a parametric study of a typical multi-family building in its pre-design stage. The climate location used is Sweden (Gothenburg) and Japan (Osaka). The aim of the study is to compare various configurations and to examine how they affect the energy use. The most interesting configurations are the use of heat pump and solar cells. Other configurations that are examined are infiltration levels, pressure coefficients, wind impact, ventilation with heat recovery, ventilation scheduling, building orientation and finally changing U-values in the building material. Results of this study show that the energy saving, by utilizing a heat pump and solar panels, can reduce the total energy use by 34.9% for Gothenburg and 32% for Osaka. The results also show that the difference in total energy use between the two cities reduce substantially (3% difference) when utilizing a heat pump in combination with solar panels.

The performance of a newly designed corner impinging jet air distribution method with an equilateral triangle cross section was evaluated experimentally and compared to that of two more traditional methods (mixing and displacement ventilation). At nine evenly chosen positions with four standard vertical points, air velocity, turbulence intensity, temperature, and tracer gas decay measurements were conducted for all systems. The results show that the new method behaves as a displacement ventilation system, with high air change effectiveness and stratified flow pattern and temperature field. Both local air change effectiveness and air exchange effectiveness of the corner impinging jet showed high quality and promising results, which is a good indicator of ventilation effectiveness. The results also indicate that there is a possibility to slightly lower the airflow rates for the new air distribution system, while still meeting the requirements for thermal comfort and indoor air quality, thereby reducing fan energy usage. The draught rate was also lower for corner impinging jet compared to the other tested air distribution methods. The findings of this research show that the corner impinging jet method can be used for office ventilation.

The objective of the study is to analyse the conditions for connection of residential buildings in heat sparse areas to district heating systems in order to increase electricity production in municipal combined heat and power plants. The European electricity market has been assumed to be fully deregulated. The relation between connection of heat sparse areas, increased electricity and heat production as well as electricity prices, fuel prices and emissions rights is investigated. The results of the study show that there is potential to expand the district heating market to areas with lower heat concentrations in the cities of Gavle, Sandviken and Borlange in Sweden, with both economic and environmental benefits. The expansion provides a substantial heat demand of approximately 181 GWh/year, which results in an electricity power production of approximately 43 GWh/year. Since the detached and stand-alone houses in the studied heat sparse areas have been heated either by oil boiler or by direct electricity, connection to district heating also provides a substantial reduction in emissions of CO(2). The largest reductions in CO(2) emissions are found to be 211 ktonnes/year assuming coal-fired condensing power as marginal electricity production. Connection of heat sparse areas to district heating decrease the system costs and provide a profitability by approximately 22 million EURO/year for the studied municipalities if the price of electricity is at a European level, i.e. 110 EURO/MWh. Sensitivity analysis shows, among other things, that a strong relation exists between the price of electricity and the profitability of connecting heat sparse areas to district heating systems.

The aim of this study is to investigate the potential use of natural gas for heat and power production for the municipality of Linkoping, Norrkoping and Finspang in the County of Ostergotland, Sweden. The results of the study revealed that these three municipalities with the present heating demand can convert 2030 GWh/year of the present fuel mixed to natural gas. The expansion of natural gas provides the possibility to increase the electricity generation with approximately 800 GWh annually in the County of Ostergotland. The global emissions of CO(2) reduce also by approximately 490 ktonne/year by assuming the coal condensing power plant as the marginal power plant. The total system cost decreases by 76 Mkr/year with the present electricity price which varies between 432 and 173 SEK/MWh and with 248 Mkr/year if the present electricity price increases to 37% which is approximately corresponding to European electricity prices. Sensitivity analysis is done with respect to the different factors such as price of electricity, natural gas, etc. The findings show that increased price of electricity and increased district heating demand increases the profitability to convert to natural gas using CHP plant. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this Thesis Project, the creation of a Low Energy building was examined in order to investigate how complex was to select the suitable parameters and systems of the dwelling, aiming to achieve the lowest possible energy consumption in one year period. All the technologies implemented into the system intended to be as energy efficient and profitable as possible. Another objective of this study was also to present the potential of the system to produce a part of the consumed energy, through renewable energy sources, approaching by this way also the standards of a Zero Energy Building. Firstly, the floor plan of the 150 m2 detached house, was drawn in the designing program AutoCAD. In continuation, this 2D floor plan was imported into the simulation program as well as all the initial input data so as for the Base model of the building to be created For the analysis of the building, the Simulation Program IDA ICE 4.7 was used. Gradually, alternations and adjustments were made into the Base model. Different models were created planning to analyze their results and conclude to the proper solution. All the simulations run for one year time period in order to present the total energy usage, system’s losses and demands in each case. In addition, as for the current study, the location of the construction was Athens, all building’s characteristics were chosen to comply with the Greek Regulation for Low Energy Buildings. Finally, through the procedure followed after having accomplished a series of simulations, the final annually energy demands managed to be within the required limits.

Wind power is growing fast all over the world, and in Sweden alone thousands of turbines has been installed the last few decades. Although the number of decommissioned turbines so far is very low, the rapid installation rate indicates that a similar rapid decommissioning rate is to be expected shortly. If the waste material from these turbines is not handled sustainably the whole concept of wind power as a clean energy alternative is challenged.

This study aims to present an accurate estimate of the amounts of waste material that will be generated from wind turbines in Sweden during the coming decades, allowing the waste management industry to plan for this and by extension prevent unnecessary energy losses through imperfect waste treatment. It should also present helpful information on how problematic waste can be reduced or avoided.

VindStat’s annual report, presenting installation date and other relevant data for most installed turbines in Sweden, has been used as the base for the calculations. Information on material composition in different types and sizes of wind turbines has been extracted from various life cycle assessments, and by using the available parameters in the data base each turbine has been assigned a specific amount of steel, iron, copper, aluminum, blade material and electronics. An average life time of 20 years has been assumed, based on prior research and comparison with empiric data, and the material of each turbine is therefore seen as generated waste 20 years after installation date.

To calculate the amount of waste material from replacing faulty components, empiric data over replacement rates in further developed markets has been combined with a prognosis over future development of installed wind capacity in Sweden based on a method described by prior research. As no sufficient way to predict how the future second hand market for turbines and components has been found, three different possible scenarios have been investigated to see how this may affect waste amounts.

The results show that annual waste will grow slowly at about 12 % increase per year until around 2026, and then the average increase is 41 % per year until 2034. By then, annual waste amounts are estimated to have reached 237 600 tonne steel and iron (16 % of currently recycled amounts), 2 300 tonne aluminium (4 %), 3 300 tonne copper (5 %), 343 tonne electronics (<1 %) and 28 100 tonne blade material. There is no industrial scale recycling method for commonly used blade materials, and a high strength steel developed by Sandvik is proposed as a fully recyclable material to consider for further research. A well-functioning second hand market is shown to possibly have a major impact on waste amounts, at least in postponing it until better recycling systems are in place.

Globally, wind power is growing fast and in Sweden alone more than 3000 turbines have been installed since the mid-1990s. Although the number of decommissioned turbines so far is few, the high installation rate suggests that a similarly high decommissioning rate can be expected at some point in the future. If the waste material from these turbines is not handled sustainably the whole concept of wind power as a clean energy alternative is challenged. This study presents a generally applicable method and quantification based on statistics of the waste amounts from wind turbines in Sweden. The expected annual mean growth is 12% until 2026, followed by a mean increase of 41% until 2034. By then, annual waste amounts are estimated to 240,000 tonnes steel and iron (16% of currently recycled materials), 2300 tonnes aluminium (4%), 3300 tonnes copper (5%), 340 tonnes electronics (<1%) and 28,000 tonnes blade materials (barely recycled today). Three studied scenarios suggest that a well-functioning market for re-use may postpone the effects of these waste amounts until improved recycling systems are in place.

In recent years, application of confluent jets for design of ventilation supply devices has been studied. Similarly, numerus studies have been made on the potential and application of variable air volume (VAV) in order to reduce the energy demand of ventilation systems. This study investigates the combination of supply devices based on confluent jets and VAV, both in terms of the nearfield flow behavior of the device and the impact on thermal comfort, indoor air quality and energy efficiency on a classroom-level space when the airflow rate is varied.

The method used in this study is an experimental field study where the confluent jets-based supply devices were compared to the previously installed displacement ventilation. The field study evaluated the energy efficiency, thermal comfort and indoor air quality of the two systems. In the case of the confluent jets supply devices, airflow rate was varied in order to see what impact the variation had on the performance of the system for each airflow rate. Furthermore, the confluent jets supply devices were investigated both experimentally and numerically in a well insulated test room to get high resolution data on the particular flow characteristics for this type of supply device when the airflow rate is varied. The results from the field study show nearly uniform distribution of the local mean age of air in the occupied zone, even in the cases of relatively low airflow rates. The airflow rates have no significant effect on the degree of mixing. The thermal comfort in the classroom was increased when the airflow rate was adapted to the heat load compared to the displacement system. The results lead to the conclusion that the combination of supply devices based on confluent jets can reduce energy usage in the school while maintaining indoor air quality and increasing the thermal comfort in the occupied zone.

The results from the experimental and numerical study show that the flow pattern and velocity in each nozzle is directly dependent on the total airflow rate. However, the flow pattern does not vary between the three different airflow rates. The numerical investigation shows that velocity profiles for each nozzle have the same pattern regardless of the airflow rate, but the magnitude of the velocity profile increases as the airflow increases. Thus, a supply device of this kind could be used for variable air volume and produce confluent jets for different airflow rates.

The results from both studies show that the airflow rate does not affect the distribution of the airflow on both near-field and room level. The distribution of air is nearly uniform in the case of the near-field results and the room-level measurement shows a completely uniform degree of mixing and air quality in the occupied zone for each airflow rate. This means that there is potential for combining these two schemes for designing air distribution systems with high energy efficiency and high thermal comfort and indoor air quality.

In developed countries, heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) systems account for more than 10% of national energy use. The primary function of a HVAC system is to create proper indoor environment. A number of ventilation strategies have been developed to minimize HVAC systems’ energy use whilst still maintaining a good indoor environment. Among these strategies are confluent jet ventilation and variable air volume. In this study, an air supply device with a novel nozzle design that uses both of the above-mentioned strategies was investigated both experimentally and numerically at three different airflow rates. The results from the numerical investigation using the SST k - ω turbulence model regarding velocities and flow patterns are validated by experimental data carried out by Laser Doppler Anemometry. The results from both studies show that the flow pattern and velocity in each nozzle is directly dependent on the total airflow rate. However, the flow pattern does not vary between the three different airflow rates. The numerical investigation shows that velocity profiles for each nozzle have the same pattern regardless of the airflow rate, but the magnitude of the velocity profile increases as the airflow increases. Thus, a supply device of this kind could be used for variable air volume and produce confluent jets for the airflow rates investigated.

Titanium is one of fourth most abundant structural metal in earths soil. It is in a composition with other elements, forming titanium alloys. These alloys are used in many different areas, such as medical, energy and sports, but is most commonly used in aerospace applications. Titanium alloys have different solid phases, α, α+β and β depending on temperature and the amount of α and β-stabilizers.When machining titanium alloys, one of the most important factors to control is the temperature in the cutting zone. The built-up heat in the cutting edge of the tool, are connected to titanium alloys low thermal conductivity and high heat capacity, which means that the alloy has low heat conduction from the cutting zone. The temperature is strongly depending on the cutting speed, which is the relative speed difference between the cutting tool and the workpiece. Many studies and research work have been conducted surrounding this fact, focusing on the physical and chemical quantities, to model tool wear progression and how this affects the tool life and the metal removal. These models are often implemented and analyzed in finite element software providing detailed but time-consuming solutions.The focus for this work have been on developing a suitable tool life expectancy model, using design of experiments in combination with metamodeling to establish a model connecting cutting parameters and measured responses in terms of tool life, from a conducted milling experiment. This models where supposed to provide a platform for customer recommendation and cutting data optimization to secure reliable machining operations. The study was limited to focus on the common α+β titanium alloy 6Al-4V. The outcome and conclusion for this study, is that the tool life is strongly connected to the choice of cutting speed and the radial width of cut and that these parameters can be predicted by the two models that have been develop in this project. The models ensure the highest possible metal removal rate, to selected parameters.

Alarge number of control rod cracks were detected during therefuelling outage of the twin reactors Oskarshamn 3 and Forsmark3 in the fall of 2008. The extensive damage investigationfinally lead to the restart of both reactors at theend of 2008 under the condition that further studies wouldbe conducted in order to clarify all remaining matters. Also,all control rods were inserted 14% in order to locatethe welding region of the control rod stem away fromthe thermal mixing region of the flow. Unfortunately, this measureled to new cracks a few months later due toa combination of surface finish of the new stems andthe changed flow conditions after the partial insertion of thecontrol rods. The experimental evidence reported here shows an increasein the extension of the mixing region and in theintensity of the thermal fluctuations. As a part of thecomplementary work associated with the restart of the reactors, andto verify the CFD simulations, experimental work of the flowin the annular region formed by the guide tube andcontrol rod stem was carried out. Two full-scale setups weredeveloped, one in a Plexiglass model at atmospheric conditions (inorder to be able to visualize the mixing process) andone in a steel model to allow for a highertemperature difference and heating of the control rod guide tube.The experimental results corroborate the general information obtained through CFDsimulations, namely that the mixing region between the cold crud-removalflow and warm by-pass flow is perturbed by flow structurescoming from above. The process is characterized by low frequent,high amplitude temperature fluctuations. The process is basically hydrodynamic, causedby the downward transport of flow structures originated at theupper bypass inlets. The damping thermal effects through buoyancy isof secondary importance, as also the scaling analysis shows, howevera slight damping of the temperature fluctuations can be seendue to natural convection due to a pre-heating of thecold crud-removal flow. The comparison between numerical and experimental resultsshows a rather good agreement, indicating that experiments with plantconditions are not necessary since, through the existing scaling lawsand CFD-calculations, the obtained results may be extrapolated to plantconditions. The problem of conjugate heat transfer has not yetbeen addressed experimentally since complex and difficult measurements of theheat transfer have to be carried out. This type ofmeasurements constitutes one of the main challenges to be dealtwith in the future work.

A methodology to obtain the directional pressure loss coefficients in a porous media model of an electromagnetically compatible screen of a radio base station model is presented. The directional loss coefficients of this compact model are validated against a detailed computational fluid dynamics model not only by comparing the total pressure drop, but also by evaluating the flow pattern after the screen. The detailed model was validated in an earlier article by the authors. A parametric study is conducted for 174 cases. Seven parameters were investigated: velocity, inlet height, screen porosity, printed circuit board (PCB) thickness, inlet-screen gap, distance between two PCBs and screen thickness. Based on the compact model parametric study, two correlations for the directional loss coefficients are developed as a function of the Reynolds number and the above geometrical parameters. The average disagreement between the compact model that uses the directional loss coefficients from the correlations and the detailed model was of 3% for the prediction of the total pressure drop and less than 6.5% and 9.5% for two coefficients that accurately characterize the flow pattern.

Outdoor urban ventilation in a real complex urban area is investigated by introducing a new ventilation indicator – the "air delay". Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed using the 3D steady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approaches. The up-to-date literature shows the lack of detailed evaluations of the two approaches for real compact urban areas. This study further presents a systematic evaluation of steady RANS and LES for the assessment of the ventilation conditions in a dense district in Nicosia, Cyprus. The ventilation conditions within the urban area are investigated by calculating the distribution of the age of air. To better assess the outdoor ventilation, a new indicator, the "air delay" is introduced as the difference between the local mean age of air at an urban area and that in an empty domain with the same computational settings, allowing the comparison of the results in different parts of the domain, without impact of the boundary conditions. CFD results are validated using wind-tunnel measurements of mean wind speed and turbulence intensity performed for the same urban area. The results show that LES can accurately predict the mean wind speed and turbulence intensity with the average deviations of about 6% and 14%, respectively, from the wind-tunnel measurements while for the steady RANS, these are 8% and 31%, respectively. The steady RANS simulations overestimate the local mean air delay. The deviation between the two approaches is 52% at pedestrian level (2 m).

The objective of this paper is to investigate the performance of five well-known turbulence models, in order to find a model that predicts the details of the flow patterns through an electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) screen. The turbulence models investigated in the present study are five different eddy-viscosity models; the standard k-epsilon model, the renormalization group (RNG) k-epsilon model, the realizable k-epsilon model, the standard k-omega model, as well as the shear stress transport k-w model. A steady-state 3-D detailed model, which serves as the most accurate representation of the model, was used in order to evaluate the details of the airflow paths and pressure field. The flow was assumed to be isothermal, turbulent and incompressible. A general model that covers a considerable range of velocities and geometries was validated experimentally by wind tunnel measurements. The result shows that for most of the k-epsilon models used with correct y(+) and mesh strategy, the pressure drop and the velocity field deviation is small compared to experimental data. The k-omega models overpredict the overall pressure drop. When using the RNG k-epsilon model, the total static pressure drop predicted differs around 5%-10% and the average velocity deviation at several locations before and after the screen is around 5%.

Increased energy consumption in the world has created an increased supply of various fuels, especially fossil fuels. The Swedish government has set up various energy targets for 2020. To reach these goals it’s important to increase the energy efficiency in local buildings such as schools. This work illustrates the breakdown between energy supply and energy losses over the school. It also shows various suggestions to reduce the energy usage. The results shows that energy losses from transmission is definitely the greatest. Significant savings can be made by replacing windows, add insulation and install motion sensor lightning. If the proposed savings would be made, the energy consumption of the school could decrease by approximately 165MWh/year. This represent an annual saving of about 123600 SEK.

This report aims to identify the current status and future opportunities for biogas as an alternative fuel for road transport in the Gävleborg region. The regional actors along the value chain are mapped by their role in feedstock supply, production and use of the biogas. Mapping and analysis of biogas development generally in Sweden and particularly in the Gävleborg region has been conducted primarily through literature, national and regional statistics and through interviews with the regional actors. About 15 companies were reached through emails and phone calls during the interview process.

In 2017, about 3.5-4.0 million Nm3 of raw biogas (50-65% CH4) was produced in the region of which 3.6 GWh was upgraded. The region has two plants with upgrading facilities, one in Forsbacka, which produces gas mainly from food waste and Duvbacken, the wastewater treatment plant in Gävle. The gas produced at these two big facilities is upgraded and mostly used as transport fuel in the region, and for the industry. Gas produced from other sources is either used for heat and electricity production or flared to avoid methane emissions to the environment. The region has 14 buses and more than 500 other vehicles running on biogas. The gas infrastructure is not well developed in the region except for two filling stations situated in Gävle and Forsbacka. However, some developments on building biogas infrastructure for transport are in process.

Analysis of interviews with actors and literature studies revealed that the region has much more feedstock for biogas production than used in the currently installed capacity of biogas technologies. Many actors showed great interest in its use as transport fuel but had very serious concerns about its future scope. Lack of supporting infrastructure such as filling stations, very low market demand and regional long-term strategies on biogas as transport fuel are considered barriers in the sector´s further development in the region. The value chain actors need to work more closely to get the most out of this valuable resource. Additionally, future planning on biogas should also consider its other uses such as an energy source for manufacturing industry, shipping and as raw material for chemicals or intermediate products.

This study consists of the development of a ram pump, which will allow the pumping of water without the need of external energy sources. It is considered an analysis of interest since, once it is finished; it can be applied in reality improving and facilitating different activities related to agriculture and health.

Previous studies have been made related to the ram pump; however, in this case, it is intended to understand the system that has been built in the laboratory in order to find the best combination of parameters that will lead to obtain the highest possible efficiency.

The study will be carried out by studying scientific literature and by experimenting in the laboratory. Encompassing the experimental and literary field, it is expected to understand perfectly the advantages and disadvantages of the ram pump in order to determine if it is worth it to install in certain places.

After the study, the most favourable parameters for the operation of the Bruzaholms Bruk pump have been obtained. It has been found that the use of a longer drive pipe favours the operation of the system, as it is possible to obtain a higher efficiency, although it must be taken into account that the mentioned length needs to be controlled, as it could reduce the working rhythm of the pump. It has also been seen that the pump gives better results if the impulse valve is completely opened. Finally, it has been proven that, as long as the height difference between the two tanks is enough, increasing the height of the water source will favour the operation of the system.

This report is an exploratory and comparative study of Boverkets constitution BEN1. In this study the constitution BEN1 is examined, why the constitution was established, when is it applicable and what advantages and disadvantages will come with it. Today the housing and service sector is using a major part of Europe’s final energy use, in addition to this, these sectors also represents a major part of the total carbon dioxide emissions. The EU-commission aims to reduce the housing and service sectors energy use and emissions. In 2002 the European parliament established directives and demands for buildings energy performance. These directives were changed in 2009-2010, which led to an inspection of the already existing Swedish constitution, this was found to be inadequate by the EU-commission. Sweden decided to create a new constitution in order to satisfy EU’s new directives and demands. The focus is on a normal usage of the building in a normal year in the new constitution, BEN1.

The reader should receive an idea and understanding about BEN1 and why it was established in this report. Beyond this, the study will show the changes that happen to a buildings energy performance after the constitution is applied and what advantages and disadvantages this could bring.

This study was performed by simulating the buildings energy use with the input from BEN1 in a simulation tool, IDA Indoor Climate and Energy.

The study shows that the energy performance will change but it also shows that further studies should be made in order to obtain a more carefully drawn and common conclusion.

Division of Environmental Strategies Research, Department of Sustainable development, Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Architecture and Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.

Bjorklund, Anna

Division of Environmental Strategies Research, Department of Sustainable development, Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Architecture and Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.

Division of Environmental Strategies Research, Department of Sustainable development, Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Architecture and Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.

Soderman, Maria Ljunggren

Division of Environmental Systems Analysis, Department of Energy and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden.

Waste management has developed in many countries and will continue to do so. Changes towards increased recovery of resources in order to meet climate targets and for society to transition to a circular economy are important driving forces. Scenarios are important tools for planning and assessing possible future developments and policies. This paper presents a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) model for environmental assessments of scenarios and waste management policy instruments. It is unique by including almost all waste flows in a country and also allow for including waste prevention. The results show that the environmental impacts from future waste management scenarios in Sweden can differ a lot. Waste management will continue to contribute with environmental benefits, but less so in the more sustainable future scenarios, since the surrounding energy and transportation systems will be less polluting and also because less waste will be produced. Valuation results indicate that climate change, human toxicity and resource depletion are the most important environmental impact categories for the Swedish waste management system. Emissions of fossil CO2 from waste incineration will continue to be a major source of environmental impacts in these scenarios. The model is used for analyzing environmental impacts of several policy instruments including weight based collection fee, incineration tax, a resource tax and inclusion of waste in a green electricity certification system. The effect of the studied policy instruments in isolation are in most cases limited, suggesting that stronger policy instruments as well as combinations are necessary to reach policy goals as set out in for example the EU action plan on circular economy.

A technology which is currently developed by researchers at KTH is catalytic combustion which is one component of a gasification system. Instead of performing the combustion in the gas turbine by a flame, a catalyst is used. When the development of a new technology (as catalytic combustion) reaches a certain step where it is possible to quantify material-, energy- and capital flows, the prerequisites for performing a systems analysis is at hand. The systems analysis can be used to expand the know-how about the potential advantages of the catalytic combustion technology by highlighting its function as a component of a larger system. In this way it may be possible to point out weak points which have to be investigated more, but also strong points to emphasise the importance of further development.

The aim of this project was to assess the energy turnover as well as the potential environmental impacts and economic costs of thermal treatment technologies in general and catalytic combustion in particular. By using a holistic assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of catalytic combustion of waste it was possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the technology under different conditions. Following different treatment scenarios have been studied: (1) Gasification with catalytic combustion, (2) Gasification with flame combustion, (3) Incineration with energy recovery and (4) Landfilling with gas collection. In the study compensatory district heating is produced by combustion of biofuel. The power used for running the processes in the scenarios is supplied by the waste-to-energy technologies themselves while compensatory power is assumed to be produced from natural gas. The emissions from the system studied were classified and characterised using methodology from Life Cycle Assessment into the following environmental impact categories: Global Warming Potential (also called the green house effect), Acidification Potential, Eutrophication Potential and finally Formation of Photochemical Oxidants.

It is obvious that a decreased use of landfilling in favour of an increased energy recovery from waste is positive from all considered impact categories. Gasification with energy recovery in a combi cycle using catalytic combustion in the gas turbine is the most competitive technology from primarily an environmental point of view. The financial costs are however a bit higher than for incineration with energy recovery. This conclusion depends, however, on the assumption that the gasification and catalyst technologies work as the researchers presume and that the fuel is of high quality. For this, the pelletising unit is vital in the technology chain.

A comparison of the catalytic combustion and the flame combustion shows that all impact categories except acidification, eutrophication and photochemical oxidants remain the same. The gasification process is identical between the two alternatives; it is just the combustion technology in the gas turbine that is different. This explains why the fuel consumption and the financial costs are not changed (a minor extra investment is made for the catalyst but is not noticeable in comparison to the total impact). Emissions of greenhouse gases are also identical. For the other impact categories there are differences for several of the emissions involved in the impact assessment but NOX is clearly the dominating one.

Gasification with catalytic combustion is competitive to incineration. The small difference for eutrophication is within the error margin and is strongly dependent on the reduction of NOX in the incineration plant. The explanation to this result is that a combi cycle in combination with natural gas as the alternative power generation is a better system solution than incineration with biofuel as compensatory fuel. Financial costs are somewhat higher than for incineration but could also claimed to be within the error margin since the inventory of costs are more uncertain due to the fact that there is no plant with gasification and catalytic combustion in operation.

The distinction between innovative and functional products have for more than a decade been central to our understanding of how to design appropriate supply chains. However, the distinction between the two types of products, and the associated "optimal" supply chain, are blurring, as high competition forces commodity producers to move up the value chain and increase the innovative content of their products. The purpose of this paper is to use a single case study to test whether established supply chain models can be applied to an innovative commodity producer. The paper finds that although some established model still have merits, a supply chain strategy cannot only be based on product characteristics. Factors such ease of transport and uncertainties in materials supply needs to be taken into account and an effective supply chain may involve utilising decoupling point to combine the benefits of both efficient and responsive supply chains.

Despite the proclaimed advantages and popularity of outsourcing, there are few and contradictory studies of the effects. The main purpose of this paper is to analyse how outsourcing manufacturing relates to performance and innovation at the plant level. A second purpose is to analyse how this outcome relates to investments in manufacturing capability. This paper is based on the results of a large-scale survey of outsourcing and manufacturing practices among a representative sample of Swedish engineering firms. The results show mainly no significant effects from outsourcing manufacturing on plant operating performance or innovation capability. This paper, however, reveals that the firms' investments in technological and organisational capabilities explain the improvements of performance at the plant level to a significantly higher extent than outsourcing does. This paper concludes with a suggestion to further analyse the potential of combined outsourcing and manufacturing strategies.

For a long time, the telecom equipment industry has been at the forefront of outsourcing and relocating production operations to contract manufacturing firms located in Asia and Eastern Europe. Recently, however, leading firms have begun to revise this strategy, based on their recognition of the continual importance of technological leadership and integration capabilities. Using a case study of a key company, this paper explores the dynamics of outsourcing and production strategies in the telecom equipment industry. One of the central aspects under study is the interaction of product development with industrialisation and production. The paper analyses issues such as component standardisation versus differentiation and technological integration, the value of deep integration capabilities for cost reductions, and why production competence and the rapid industrialisation of products incorporating new technologies have acquired renewed importance, despite the global trend towards lowest-cost locations.

Despite the proclaimed advantages and popularity of outsourcing manufacturing and knowledge-intensive business services, there are few and mainly contradictory studies of its short- and long-term effects. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the way in which outsourcing manufacturing and design work relates to performance at plant level. The study is based on a large-scale survey among a representative sample of Swedish engineering plants. The results show no significant effects from outsourcing manufacturing on plant operating performance. The paper further shows that investments in technological and organizational capabilities explain the improvements of performance to a significantly higher extent than does outsourcing. The problems of additional costs and managing dependencies when applying partial outsourcing and separating interdependent key processes provide important insights to the analysis on the effects of outsourcing knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS).